Global Credit

Gregg is a 25 year veteran of the adidas Group.  The global organization of the company consists of 12 markets, doing business in over 190 countries through subsidiaries and joint ventures.  They have 46,000 employees worldwide, and approximately 70% of these employees are in the Commercial segment of the company.  

Gregg is a Global HR Professional with HR leadership experience on three continents, having lived and worked in the US, Europe and Asia.  Currently, he is Sr. Vice President of Human Resources – Commercial, based at Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.  He leads a global department that provides comprehensive HR Business Partner Support to the adidas and Reebok Brands, plus the three (3) global Sales Channels - Wholesale, Retail, eCommerce - supporting the full range of employees from CSO’s and CMO’s to Retail Shop Staff. 

Gregg joined the adidas Group in the United States in 1988 as Manager of Distribution and Logistics.  In 1990, he became Director of Human Resources for adidas America and held this role until his move to the HQ in 1998. 

Prior to adidas, Gregg held Human Resources and Operations Management roles with a US-based Textile manufacturing company. 

Gregg is a 1979 graduate of Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  He holds a Global Professional Human Resources (GPHR) certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute and is a frequent speaker on Leadership, Motivation, Employee Engagement and other HR-related topics.

Internationally recognized as an expert in the field, Mr. Kushner is one of the nation's most sought after speakers on HR strategy and employee benefits. He has advised four U.S. Presidents on health care and has testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. House Small Business Committee on employee benefit issues.

A frequent resource to the media, Mr. Kushner contributes to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, AP, Knight-Ridder, the Kiplinger Washington Newsletter, CNN News, Fortune, MSNBC and Good Morning America among others. More importantly, he and his wife Tamis have five children and four wonderful (and amazing!) grandchildren.

As a consultant in Hogan’s Global Alliances practice, Michael manages distribution channels and alliance partners throughout Asia-Pacific. He developed his professional background overseas in the Netherlands and Mainland China while gaining hands-on experience in emerging markets. Michael is well practiced in coaching through feedback, workshop facilitation, and executive assessment. He is a graduate of Hofstra University’s Industrial/ Organizational Psychology program, and has spoken at professional and academic conferences in Hong Kong, China, Australia and the United States.

With 20 years of experience in global talent development, Donal has  designed and delivered learning programs for more than twenty of the  world’s largest corporations. He is considered an industry leader in  designing and delivering dynamic talent management, leadership and  B2B sales and marketing learning programs that transcend borders,  languages and cultures.  Before establishing Donal Conn Associates, Donal held executive  positions with multiple Global Fortune 500 organizations. Most  recently, he served as Chief Learning & Talent Officer of Momentive Performance Materials (formerly GE Advanced Materials), an  engineered materials company with $7.5 billion in annual sales  and over 12,000 employees doing business in 119 locations in 23 countries. Previously, Donal served as Vice President of a global advertising and communications agency with clients in the consumer, pharmaceutical, medical device and manufacturing sectors and has held senior talent management roles with State Farm Insurance and KeyCorp. Throughout his career, Donal has repeatedly been honored with numerous industry awards, including winning the prestigious ‘Vanguard Executive of the Year’ award from Chief Learning Officer magazine in 2009. As a recognized thought leader, he regularly authors articles for trade magazines and frequently serves as a keynote speaker at industry conferences around the world.

Alessandro Bonorino is Global Vice President of Recruitment/Talent Acquisition for IBM Corporation. He is responsible for defining, executing and operating strategies regarding recruitment programs and policies across the 170 countries where IBM operates. 

With extensive experience in HR, prior to his role, he was HR Director of Latin America, which comprises more than 25,000 employees in 11 countries;  Brazil HR Director (2005-2008), Spanish South America HR Leader (2002-2005), GTS HR Leader for Latin America (2001-2002). He also worked for Glaxo Wellcome and KPMG. 

A Brazilian born in Rio de Janeiro, he is graduated in Economics from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and has specialization in Business for Managers and an Executive MBA. He started his career in finance, but 18 years ago moved to HR. Also, during his professional career, outside Brazil, he had the opportunity to live in Miami (USA), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Shanghai (China).

Karen Rylander-Davis is an accomplished senior human resource executive with over 35 years of international experience. She specializes in transforming organizations, developing talent, and supporting culture change to achieve business strategies. Her work in management development includes project leadership, instructional design, development and delivery of training programs.

Karen’s consulting focuses on offering strategic organization and leadership development solutions to a wide variety of firms in diverse industries.  Her approach to clients is customized to each situation, culture and team dynamic. She motivates, facilitates, and challenges people to rethink what is possible for themselves and the organization. Recognizing that the organization is a system, she considers potential impacts and contingencies in her work to ensure that recommendations and deliverables are practical, actionable and value-adding.

Of note is Karen’s development of a comprehensive leadership curriculum for a global French wire and cable manufacturer, built on management and functional competency models and company values.   A global course for high potential senior leaders involved building the design around corporate values and competencies, incorporating appropriate action learning, and ensuring strong partnership between internal and external resources.  A course for Plant Managers required integration of design by multiple internal subject matter experts and preparation for delivery by internally trained facilitators. A short-course targeted transversal leaders whose virtual teams did not report directly to them and were located around the world.

Other instructional design and delivery projects include:

• Comprehensive instructional design curriculum, including a variety of training modules, materials and video, to support process transformation in a multinational family-owned food products company

• Redesign of a senior leadership development program for a chemical manufacturing company

• Diversity awareness training for all employees of a regional newspaper
• Local customer team development curriculum for sales and service staffs of a medical imaging equipment manufacturer 

Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Karen held human resource positions of increasing responsibility with Knight Ridder, General Electric Medical Systems, Ryder System, Inc. and Goodyear Aerospace Corporation. Most recently, as Corporate Vice President, Training and Career Management for Nexans, worldwide leader in cables and cabling systems, headquartered in Paris, she engaged senior leadership worldwide in creating and implementing Nexans’ Management Competency Model, followed by the development and delivery of an expanded leadership development curriculum.

Experienced in working effectively in multiple regions and cultures, including North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Karen has lived and worked in the US,  Canada, and France and is fluent in English and French. She holds dual US and Canadian citizenship.

Karen holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Counselor Education, an M.Ed. in Counseling in Higher Education from Kent State University, and a B.A. in French, with honors, from the College of Wooster.

Mister Manners, Thomas P. Farley, is an etiquette expert, speaker and author who’s helping America’s professionals master essential manners for success in the workplace—and in life. His workshops for banks, law firms, universities and Fortune 500 companies are engaging and memorable, offering employees strategies for getting along and getting ahead.

Mr. Farley is a regular and popular guest on the Today show, where he speaks on matters of modern-day etiquette—subjects from “avoiding awkward hugs” to “what not to wear at a company beach outing.” His insights appear regularly in other media outlets as well, including the CBS Early Show, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Wired and Money magazines, USA Today, CNN, ABC and on radio stations across the country.

Throughout 2011, he served as an ongoing guest-host for the daily call-in program Living Today on the Martha Stewart Living Radio network. He also helped launch that channel’s “Manners Monday” segment, which focused on matters of contemporary etiquette.

Mr. Farley was the “Social Graces” editor for Town & Country magazine for the better part of a decade and has been a guest lecturer at New York University’s School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. He is also the editor of the anthology “Modern Manners: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Social Graces.”

Shilpa Pherwani is an organizational psychologist by training and the Principal and CEO of IBIS Consulting Group, Inc. She has expertise in the areas of cultural competency, diversity and inclusion, organizational development and e-­learning.  As a consultant and trainer, Shilpa provides guidance to organizations to develop and achieve their D&I business goals.  She provides subject matter expertise in change management, organizational development and diversity to help organizations align D&I with business strategy. Shilpa heads the design and development team at IBIS for diversity e-­learning tools. She has led the team for several highly effective programs for clients such as Aetna, Boeing, Campbell Soup, Grainger, ESPN, Nestle, Microsoft, Sun Life Financial, and Xerox. Shilpa’s work with global organizations has included conducting diversity assessments, diversity and cross-­cultural training, leadership development, and implementation of diversity strategic plans. Shilpa received her Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Springfield College with a focus on Organizational Development.

Mr. P. Dwarakanath is the Advisor – Group, Human Capital of Max India Limited, New Delhi. Till recently he was the head the HR function and drives Max Group’s intent to make work at Max India a fulfilling experience. 

He has experience of more than four decades, of which he has spent 27 years in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). During his tenure, GSK was thrice adjudged amongst the top five Employers in India for People-related practices. He is on the Board of several companies / institutions, including GSK Consumer Healthcare Limited. 

Mr. Dwarakanath has held several positions in various professional bodies that include President, National Human Resources Development Network (NHRDN); President, Delhi Management Association; Regional President, AIMA and Treasurer, AIMA. 

He has won several awards, including the 'Pathfinders Award' by the National Human Resource Development Network, 'HR Professional of the year' by Mid-Day/DAKS, London and the 'Career Achievement Award' by GSK International and the Chairman’s Award by Max India. 

Mr. Dwarakanath is a Bachelor of Science, Law and holds Post Graduate Diploma in Management in PM

& IR.

SV Nathan is the Talent Director for Deloitte U.S. Firms in India. He has over 30 years of professional experience in Human Resource management across diverse industries including Manufacturing, Services, Telecom, and IT.

In his career of over eight years with Deloitte, Nathan led the team that helped build the organization and helped establish Deloitte US firms as a destination for top talent in India. 

Apart from his responsibilities in Deloitte, Nathan serves as the National Secretary of National HR Development Network (NHRDN), the Chairman of the Global In-House Center, Hyderabad Chapter of NASSCOM, and the current Chairman of the Indian Society for Training & Development (ISTD), Hyderabad Chapter. He is also a Fellow at Sumedhas, a not-for-profit education and research body on organization development. He is well known in the HR community as a good coach and teacher.

Nathan graduated in Mathematics and did his post-graduation in HR from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He is acknowledged as a well-known speaker, expert, coach and mentor. His personal philosophy of persistence is seen in his favorite line – Water cuts Rock ! Over the last many years he has seen a lot of his protégés turn into great professionals, leading organizations of repute.

He is fond of reading and writing, and enjoys cooking for family and friends. He blogs regularly on matters pertaining to life in all its many splendored hues and wonderment on Facebook.

Naowarat Bumrungchit is Senior Vice President, of the C.P. Leadership Group.  She was recently assigned to the office of the Chairman  to institutionalize the C.P.Leadership Institute. Previously, Naowarat’s responsibilities included heading Leadership Development, Learning & Development for CPF as well as overseeing the CPF Learning Center Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Thailand the largest ago-­‐industrial food company “Charoen Pokaphan Public Company” (CPF). CPF subsidiaries companies operate in 27 countries around the globe. 

Naowarat has an impressive track record and international reputation for building the talent pipeline, including talent development with global capability, and for transforming knowledge capital, capability and leadership into business success.   In her current role, she is institutionalizing  the CPF Global Learning Center by providing innovative learning tools for CPF global leaders. Naowarat has been awarded the Global HR Excellent Award 2009 and in 2012 the Leaders Award in Business Leadership.

Naowarat also served as the Vice President of the Stock Exchange of Thailand. In that capacity, she played a key role in institutionalizing the Thailand Securities Institute to function as a center for licensing examinations.  She is credited for bringing continuous, innovative, education and training programs for industry practitioners and investors through series of lectures, workshops, seminars, computer-­‐based training sessions and other relevant technology. While serving in this role, she devoted her personal time to developing mentoring programs for volunteer instructors to help sustain their personal long term growth. She also wrote 2 pocket books used as   mentor’s hand books focused on how to be high technology instructors using a blended learning technique as the key to success in transferring knowledge in a simple and effective way. Naowarat is a Fulbright Scholar with a Masters degree in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation from Syracuse University.